


decorating the farm

by Xamem



Series: Stardeween [2]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 21:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21185918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xamem/pseuds/Xamem
Summary: Shane asks Julia to help with decorating Marnie's ranch. Stardeween Day 2: Decorating the Farm.





	decorating the farm

**Author's Note:**

> If you've read my other stuff with Julia, this happens before that! But you don't need to read that to read this. All you need to know is that Julia is Shane's coworker. Enjoy!

Julia couldn’t remember when the last time she had decorated for Halloween had been. Probably when she was a child and actually lived in a house, instead of a dorm or a tiny one-bedroom apartment where no self-respecting child would be caught trick-or-treating. Sometime between throwing up in the apple-bobbing tank and her fiasco of a sexy vampire costume, she’d lost her Halloween spirit.

This year, something was different. Shane had invited her to come decorate his aunt Marnie’s farmhouse. It had been on a whim – he’d asked if she had any plans before the festival, what they did in the city. She had shrugged.

“Well, the younger folk tend to go get absolutely smashed at a party,” she said, carefully balancing another bag of candy-corn on the display she was arranging. “Sometimes I’ll have some friends over to eat candy and watch a scary movie. But this year it’s just me and Loaf.”

Shane wrinkled his nose at the mention of scary movies. “You like that gory stuff?”

“Uh, _duh_. It’s the best part of Halloween.” She grinned wickedly. “What, is it too scary for you?”

“_No_.” The heat coloring his cheeks said otherwise. “I just don’t get the point. It’s not entertaining. It’s gross. Whatever, that’s not the point. I wanted – I mean, Marnie wanted me to ask if you’d come help decorate the ranch?”

Julia raised her brow, skeptical. “I’ve never met your aunt before. Why would she want me to help decorate your ranch?”

“I…” He groaned, dragging the palm of his hand down his face in frustration. “Actually, it would just be us. Jas and Marnie will be at Jodi’s house tonight making her and Vincent’s costume. Apparently it’s a pretty big project. I thought it would be nice to have the house decorated when they come back.” His other motivation went unspoken between them – that a decorated house was better than the alternative that could happen if he was left alone one a bad night. Shane had been doing so much better lately, and Julia was proud of him – she’d seen the struggle with her brother.

“Of course. I’ll meet you after work. But only,” she added, mischievous smile taking over, “if you promise to watch a scary movie after.” Shane grimaced and turned, leaving her to stack a pyramid of canned pumpkin.

_I’ll take that as a yes._

* * *

Now they were decorating the ranch, and Julia was starting to feel nostalgic. Her older brother had always made her do the spiderwebs because he _hated _spiders, even the little plastic ones that didn’t look remotely like the real thing. Why he insisted on having them around the house if they made him cry, she’d never know. Her smile faltered as she strung up some more webs. She wondered if they got to decorate at his base for the holidays.

“What’cha thinking about?” Shane asked. He was on a ladder next to her, sticking up bats they had cut out with Jas’s spare construction paper.

“Just which scary movie we’re going to watch after this. I was thinking something with a lot of gore and torture. Or maybe clowns?”

“Absolutely _not_.” Shane shuddered at the mere mention of clowns. “If we _must _watch a scary movie, it will be family friendly. Maybe something with songs.”

Julia snorted at the thought of Shane singing along to a Halloween musical. Jas’s influence must have really gotten to him. It was simultaneously the dorkiest and also sweetest thing she’d ever heard of. “Shift that bat to the right,” she said, pointing to an expanse of the house that was bare, “and I think we might have it.”

The duo stepped down to admire their handiwork. Julia hadn’t thought she’d had it in her, but something had erupted inside her. They’d fashioned a scarecrow to look like a witch, complete with pointy hat and bubbling cauldron with green goo. Julia didn’t want to know where Shane had gotten that much slime. Spiderwebs were woven in all the trees, with spiders of varying sizes accompanying them. Paper-thin ghosts made their home in the darkest corners with leering vampires. Even the chickens got to join in, with a zombie sentry outside their coop.

“Jas is going to _love _this, Jules,” Shane said, beaming. He pulled her in for a brief sideways hug, and even that brief contact had her heart racing. _It’s just a friendly hug, nothing more, _she thought, chastising herself for believing it could be something more. He’d invited her over because she was a friend from work. They were here to do something nice for Jas. That was it.

But still… She shot a glance at him as he continued to point out the parts Jas would like best. Here was the pumpkins she had just carved, she’d love that they had made a patch out of them, that witch was so scary it’d make her scream with delight. He was radiating happiness. Shane took her by surprise by grabbing her hand, tugging her towards the house.

“C’mon. We’ve got just enough time to watch a scary movie before they get back.”


End file.
